Rice separator



A ug. 23,1921.' Y, 1,640,010

A.' A. SCHOENEGG RICE SEPARATOR Filed Feb. 2o. 1,925 r s'sneets-sheer 1 Anfon/1.Schoenegg 1, ,oliov A( A. sCHoENEGG RICE SEPARATOR jlonASchoen l l y "1,640,010 Aug. 23., 1927. A. A SYCHOENEGG 'RICE SEPARATOR Filed Feb. 2o;v 192s s sheets-sheet 3 Patented Aug. 23, 1927.

AN'roN A. scHonNEeG, oF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIEORNIA.

RICE sEPAnA'roR.

Application iea'repruary 2o, 192e. serial no. 39,7219.

My said invention relates to aseparating l device intended primarily for cleaning. rice by removal of Waterl` grass seed from the same. `While designed'particularly forthe cleaning of California paddy rice, it may obviously be used for cleaning other grains and seedsfas Well as for separation of fluent solids having granules of different sizes or otherwise different in their characteristics. This invention is an improvement on the machine shown in my Patent N o.' 1,523,906, January 20, 19.25, and it is an object thereof to increase the capacity of the machine and improve the results obtained.

' Referring to the accompanying drawings which are made a part hereof and onwhich similar reference characters indicate similar parts. Y

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the devicev of my invention, c

Figure 2, a side elevation, f

Figure 3, a longitudinal section,

,Fignre 4, a transverse section `on line 4 4 of Figure 3,

Figure 5, avlongitudinal'section on an enlarged scale, this view being similar to Figurey 3 but omitting some of the'parts, p

Figure 6, a transverse section of the drum and parts above the same', i

Figure 7, a top 'plan of shield shown in` Figures `4 and 6, and

Figure 8, a plan of a screen located abovev the revolving drum.

In the drawings reference character 10 indicates a revolving drum mounted for rotation in bearings v11. Antifriction bearings are provided at 12 between the bearings and the end pieces 13 and 14 of the drum. These end pieces .are imperforate whereas'the remainder of the drum consistsv of perforated sheet metal the'openings being' small enough to 'exclude rice or otherl material which is being cleaned but permitting'the passage of water grassseed, dust, and other small impurities. The drum is driven in the direction indicated bythe arrows by means of a belt 15 passing about the end piece 13 of the drum, and driven from any suitable source of power l(not shown). n l

The drum is mounted in a suitabley cas# ing 16 provided at its lowerv side with hoppers 17' and 18. vThe casing 16 communicates at its upper endvwth a storage chamberl`20 vprovided-at its lower end with a suitable 'feeding' means, such as a longituf dinally grooved roller 21 for feeding the material 'to be cleaned in a regular flow from the storage chamber to the casing. The roller 21 is drivenin suitably timed relation with the remainingcparts of the device.

A screen 22 is supported l.above the drum for oscillation about the axis of the drum. The screen may be supportedv on arcuate bearings extending fromfthe sides of the casing 16-or in any other suitable manner. For oscillating' the screen I have provided gears 23 having teeth meshing' with the teeth of rack segments at. the ends of ythe screen. These gears are fixed to a shaft 24 for rotation therewith and said shaft driven by means comprising a rock-arm 25V fixed to the shaft, a link 26, and a crank disk 27 on, a shaft 28 carrying a pulley 29 ldriven by a belt 30.

'WVithin the drum and covering an are exy tending approximately two-fifths V(2/5) of the way around the drum at the lower side thereof isa shield for cutting off lthe suction from this part of the drum, said shield consisting of a body '31 which may be of sheet metal and which is provided at one side with a strip 32 of rubber or other suitable yielding material Which prevents the entrance of air between the edge of the member 31 and the corresponding inner face of the drum. yrit the opposite side of Vthis shield I have mount-ed thereon a brush 33 extending' over the entire length of the drum and serving to clean the drum by freeing the holes from material which might otherwise clog the perforated cylinder' and interfere with the operation of the machine. 'The suction-interrupting device is supported as illustrated in Figure 5 with its ends abutting against the outer sides of recesses in the bearings 11.`A 7

5 The bearings 11 are provided with annular .flanges at "34 extending axially outward from the'drum and 'serving'to supportY flanges forming-parts of pipes 35 and r36,- "which extend upward and then con-V verge above the casing 16 where they unite with a pipe 37 leading to aA fan' casing 38. This 7cas'ing'has an'putlet pipe 39 through which the'water grass seed and other refuse A collection device, as shown in my former patent above referred to, or are otherwise disposed of.

ln the operation of my device the grain or other material to be separated is fed from the container 2OV into the casing 16 and is agitated by the screen 22 which is constantly oscillated due to the rotation of the shaft which reciprocates the pitman 26 and oscilla-tes the rock-arm 25, the gear 28, and therefore the screen 22. This oscilla tion coacts with the clockwise rotation of the drum l() to feed the grain in athin layer in a clockwise direction about the axis of the drum. rlhe openings in the drum are so pr portioned that water grass seed and other small impurities will be drawn through them by the suction of the fan in the casing 38 acting at both ends of the drum to draw the air through the perforations in the drum and therefore to draw with it any impurities which are sufficiently light and small to be influenced by the air current. The grain vwhich .is of larger size than the impurities passing through the openings moves around Awith the drum and falls into the hopper 17.

`iiiithout the screen 22 the rice and water grass seed with beards would hold to the cylinder till they had passed over above the hopper i?. This screens purpose is to give the suction more chance to pull the water grass seed with beards through the holes. lf a water grass seed with its beard lays across the* holes the suction cannot pull it through, but with a screen 22 present the water grass seed is upset and brought into many different positions so that the suction has a'chance to pull it through end ways.

The impurities of large size and light weight, such as bearded seeds and parts of heads of rice, are held to the surface of the drum until they pass the hopper 17 and reach the segment in which the suction is cut ofi' by the shield 3l, whereupon they fall into the hopper 18 and are carried away thereby. ln this way it will be seen that in a single operation the grain is cleared both of small refuse such as weed seeds and of large refuse such as bearded seeds and the like. By the use of a suction device acting at both ends of the drum a more effective. cleaning` actionY is had as the suction acting through the openings in the drum is much stronger than in my previous device. It isalso found of advantage to substitute the screen 22 for the feeding' mechanism previously in use and to collect the cleaned grain at the righthand sidewhile permitting the large and light refuse to pass on to the left-hand side .of the drum.

`It will ber obvious to those skilled in the art that mydevice may be changed in various respects, and therefore I do notflimit for oscillation about the axis of the same t to stir thematerial as it proceeds in the direction of rotation of the drum, means for drivino; said device, means for producing; a suction in the drum, means for collecting' the cleaned grain, and means for cuttingofi7 the suction about a segment of the drum, substantially as set forth.

2. In a separating,T device for grain or the like, a rotary suction drum having perforations for the passage of minor in'ipurities, means for feeding' the material to be cleaned to the upper side of the drum, and mechanical agitating means close to the outer periphery of the forth. y

3. A device as in claim 2, said agitating` means oscillating` about the axis of the drum, substantially as set forth.

4. In a separating device -for grain 'and the like, a perforated drum, means for passing materialto be acted on over the surface ofnthe drum, mechanical stirring means ad jacent the outer surface of the drum, and means operating' at both endsof the drum to create a suction therein, substantially as set forth. Y

5. fr separating device'for grain or the like including,- a rotary perforated drum, an

oscillating` screen adjacent thereto, a casing,

having walls fitting against the'surface of the drum adjacent opposite ends-thereof,

fixed bearings having recesses to receive the ends of the drum, anti-frictiondevices in said reces-sesv forl supportingthe drum, and a driving belt engaging the drum between a Wall of the casing and one of said bearings, substantially as set forth.

6.V In a separatingr device forgrain or the like, a rotary drum having perforations for the passaoe of minor impurities, means for feeding the material to be Auron A.. sc nonnnee.

drum, substantiallyv as set.

cleaned to the V upper ide of the drum, an arcuate screenY 

